Madam Speaker, we do acknowledge that much has to be done, and there is going to have to be hard work in settling these long-standing indigenous land claims.
I want to hear from the government that as it goes about this process that it will consider the farmers, trappers, and ranchers who have been active on the land and who have lived side by side since the early days of Confederation.
Furthermore, this is going to have a very significant effect. This question was put forward to the National Chief Perry Bellegarde. He used a quote and said that we must have “peace in the valley”. I thought that was a very nice statement.
As the government does the work, it has to have a recognition in terms of third party owners. I would urge it to adopt a policy of “avoid, mitigate, compensate” when these settlements intersect in a way that creates undue hazards.